Peebles

Market Place and Mercat
Cross

Peebles lies at the confluence of the River Tweed, flowing east
towards Berwick-upon-Tweed and the
sea, and the Eddleston Water flowing from the north, whose valley has long been
an important communications route between
Edinburgh and the
Scottish Borders.

Settlement in the area dates back thousands of years, as shown by
the hill forts in the area and by the remains of a nearby Roman road and a
Roman fort at Lyne. Some time after the
Romans' brief stay this section of the Tweed Valley was part of the Kingdom of
Strathclyde, only finally becoming part of Scotland under
Malcolm II in 1016.

A church had been established on the west side of today's Peebles
in the 600s. Its probably site was later used for a parish church consecrated
in 1195, whose partial remains still stand as St Andrew's Tower. This church was destroyed
by the English in 1548. After the
Reformation of 1560,
Cross Kirk, previously an abbey church
just half a mile to the east of St
Andrew's, became Peebles' new parish
church. This was made redundant in 1784 by a new church built closer to the
centre of Peebles, and in 1887 this in turn was replaced on the same site by
the Old Parish Church which today
dominates the High Street and the Tweed Bridge.

Other churches in the town form a cluster overlooking the river
towards the east end of the town. Most striking is the Leckie Memorial Church
with its 146ft spire, built in 1876. Next to it is the less assuming St Peter's
Episcopal Church from 1830 and also nearby is what used to be the Free Church,
built in 1872.

Peebles' strategic position was reflected by the building of a
castle here in the 1100s, certainly before
David I made Peebles a
Royal Burgh in 1152. This was located on Castle Hill, a site at the west end of
the High Street today occupied by the Old Parish Church. It guarded the
wooden bridge across the River Tweed and was occupied by the English in the
wars of the early 1300s (see our
Historical Timeline).

Accounts differ about the eventual fate of Peebles Castle. It may
have been destroyed when the English burned the town in 1403, or when they did
so for a second time in 1548. Or part of the castle may still have been
standing and reused for its stone when the predecessor of today's Parish Church
was built on the site in 1784.

More enduring was Neidpath Castle, overlooking the Tweed a mile to
the west of Peebles. With origins in 1370, much of today's structure dates back
to the 1500s and 1600s. In 1810 the castle was brought by the Earl of Wemyss,
whose family still occupy it.

Today's Peebles is an attractive and bustling town whose heart lies
in its main shopping street, formed by High Street and Eastgate. This area was
largely built in the second half of the 1500s, on a spur of land between the
River Tweed and the Eddleston Water.

Perhaps this was thought to be a more defensible site than the "Old
Town" on the west side of the Eddleston Water which had been largely destroyed
by the English in 1548. Where High Street and Eastgate meet is the Mercat
Cross. This has occupied its current traffic island site only since 1965, but
in part it dates back to the 1660s. Set back on the south side of High Street
behind its cobbled courtyard is the excellent
Tontine Hotel, whose name reflects the
original method by which it was funded.

Close by on the south side of High Street is the lovely courtyard
setting of the Tweeddale Museum and Gallery, part of the Chambers Institution.
Within the archway leading to the courtyard is the entrance to the
John Buchan Story, with exhibits
about the life of the novelist and diplomat. Set behind the High Street are the
broad grassy and tree-line banks of the River Tweed.

This is crossed by Tweed Bridge close to the
Old Parish Church, the first stone
bridge across the Tweed and originally built in 1426. It was altered in 1799
and widened from 8ft to 21ft in 1834 and then to 40ft in 1900. There is a large
stone inscription on the parapet commemorating the 1834 widening "by
subscription". Below Eastgate the River Tweed is crossed by the Priorsford
Bridge, an iron suspension pedestrian bridge built in 1905 to replace an
earlier one from 1817.